SWD

The Campaign involves a wide variety of students who feel they have some kind of disability. Examples are given below, but it all depends on whether the student personally feels that their situation counts as a disability (self-defines):

• physical and sensory disabilities, such as the use of a wheelchair or crutches, impairment or loss of hearing or vision;
• specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia, ADHD or autism;
• long-term medical conditions such as asthma, diabetes, epilepsy, chronic fatigue syndrome, MS or ME;
• mental ill health including depression
• and, to a certain extent, HIV/AIDS.

The Campaign holds a national Conference once a year where they elect an SWD Committee and a full-time SWD Officer.

Campaigning activities, such as national demonstrations, events and training, are open to any students to help out. The Conference, however, is only open to students who self-define as having some kind of disability, and the motions passed at the Conference become the policy of the SWD Campaign and shapes the work that they do for the rest of the year.

The campaign believes that Students with Disabilities face attitudinal and social barriers to full inclusion on a daily basis and there must be a continuous struggle for equality. Lack of access denies disabled people opportunities in education, employment, leisure, housing and even voting in local and general elections - activities most people take for granted.

Facts about Disability in Britain

1. There are 10 million disabled adults in Great Britain covered by the Disability Discrimination Act, over one in five of the adult population.
2. Since 1990, in this country, 682 individual disabled people have lost their lives because of disablism. That is, they have been deliberately killed just because they were a disabled person.
3. In summer 2003 only 49% of disabled people of working age were in work, compared to 81% of non-disabled people in work.
4. By the time they are 30, 1 in 3 disabled people in a recent survey expected to be earning less than other people their age.
5. 22% of disabled respondents in a recent survey have experienced harassment in public in relation to their impairment.
6. One in eight young disabled people (13%) said they had been turned down for a paid job and told it was for a reason related to their disability.
7. Only 18% of people with mental illness are employed.
8. Under half of all pubs and clubs have an accessible toilet. From 1 October 2004, the Disability Discrimination Act means that venues will have to remove physical barriers to disabled people.
9. Only 42% of disabled people of working age are in employment compared to 81% of non-disabled people of working age.
10. Of the 2.4 million disabled people on state benefits and not in work nearly 1 million would like to work.
11. Fewer than 1 in 10 people with a severe learning disability are in work.
12. Disabled people are 4 times more likely to suffer sexual abuse.
13. Only 3% of women with a learning disability get screenings for cervical cancer.
14. Barriers to education mean that disabled people are more than twice as likely as non-disabled people to have no formal academic or vocational qualifications
15. On average one in four of us will experience a mental health problem in the course of a year.
16. In a recent survey, 70% had experienced discrimination in response to their own mental distress or in response to that of a relative or friend.
17. 55% of those with mental illness couldn't bring themselves to tell colleagues about their experience of mental distress.
18. More than four in ten people have no regular contact with a disabled person.
19. There are over one million disabled people who want to work but don't have a job.
20. A 2002 National Audit Office report identified that an 18 year old with a disability or other health problem is only 40% as likely to enter higher education as an 18 year old without a disability or other health problem

Disabled people have been campaigning for civil liberties legislation for decades, and SWD students have been actively involved in this campaign. We obtained the first real meaningful disability legislation with the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA) which has now been amended with by the Special Educational Needs Disabilities Act 2001 (SENDA), which includes Post 16 Education Providers for the first time.

A Social Model
The legislation, however, is not perfect. The DDA unfortunately judges us not by what we can do but by what we can’t (Medical Model) and reform of this Act is a priority. We are calling for civil liberties legislation that gives us true equality. Within NUS we believe in the Social Model of Disability, which says that the problems of disability come from the attitudes of society, rather than because of the disabled person (as the DDA maintains). We campaign to get the Social Model to be universally accepted in our society.

Attitudes
Perhaps the greatest barrier that students with disabilities face on a daily basis, is the attitude of other people and the stigma of being disabled. There is a great deal of misunderstanding and confusion surrounding disabilities, and there is often also stigma attached to ‘coming out’ as a disabled student, either at university or college, or in the family or workplace. A vital part of the SWD Campaign is devoted to educating those students who do not self-define as having a disability. We campaign to remove the stigma from all disabilities, and to encourage all members of our society to take a positive attitude towards understanding the nature of disability and over-coming prejudices.

Visibility
A frequent misunderstanding about the SWD campaign is the issue of what a disability is. It’s easy to stereotype disabled students as those with obvious physical disabilities, but often disabilities can be just as severe, but less obvious. The issue of mental health is an example of such a disability that wouldn’t be visible to a casual observer. The SWD campaign works hard to raise awareness of the different forms of disability, and to encourage society to bear in mind less obvious disabilities when promoting diversity and access.

Inclusion and Involvement
The key effect of the stigmas and attitudinal problems attached to disability is a lack of involvement of students with disabilities in student life and students’ unions. As a strong supporter of the Social Model of disability, the NUS SWD Campaign believes that it is the fault of society and institutions that disabled people are oppressed. As such, we believe that the burden of action falls upon students’ unions in increasing students with disabilities’ involvement in their union. The SWD campaign works hard to encourage students’ unions to actively involve students with disabilities